Rangers v Celtic semi-final date and kick-off time announced

CRAIG FOWLER

The Scottish Cup semi-final between Celtic and Rangers will take place at Hampden Park on Sunday 17 April with a 12noon kick-off.

The other semi-final will take place between Dundee United and either Hibernian or Inverness CT on Saturday 16 April 12.15pm.

Sky Sports and BBC Scotland will both broadcast Saturday’s semi-final, though only Sky Sports will be showing the Old Firm derby live.

Both games will take place at Hampden. Dundee United will find out their opponent when Hibs and Inverness meet this coming Wednesday.

A SFA statement read: “On the basis of Police Scotland advice, and Sky Sports’ exclusive live broadcasting of one of the ties, the Rangers versus Celtic semi-final has therefore been scheduled for Sunday, 17th April at midday.

“We are aware of supporters’ challenges regarding travel and to that end collaborated with the clubs prior to confirmation of the match schedule.

“Due to the broadcasting agreements with Sky Sports and BBC Scotland - which enables the association to distribute more than £6m per year of cup revenue to all participating clubs - agreement on kick-off times involved those rights holders, the clubs, the association and police authorities.

“UEFA blocked hours regulations means no matches can be televised live between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on a Saturday. Both BBC Scotland and Sky Sports will broadcast Dundee United versus Hibernian or Inverness Caledonian Thistle live on Saturday 16th April at 12.15pm. A later kick-off time of 5.15pm was also discussed but was deemed prohibitive to return travel and also created scheduling clashes with broadcasters.”